Ardelle Blackmoon
Lady Ardelle Blackmoon is the middle child and only daughter of Lady Lunestra and Lord Solsten Blackmoon. She is an elven canoness, philosopher and scientist- a staunch supporter of the Horde, and a veteran of The Darkspear Rebellion and the Third Legion Invasion. She is the current Matriarch of House Blackmoon. Sidebar image by Kottkrig. Physical Description Ardelle stands a bit tall for a Sin’dorei woman, at five foot ten inches. A trademark of her family is to be tall, and at times, gangly. Ardelle, however, is not gangly, blessed with the typical elven curves characteristic of most of their people, though her figure is more rubenesque than most Sin’dorei. Ardelle’s eyes and eyebrows notably droop on the outer corners, giving her a relaxed, motherly look to her face. Her eyes are a bit unnerving, despite this non-threatening look, however. Due to her misuse of Fel Crystals after the fall of the Sunwell, before it’s restoration, her eyes are a bright shade of acidic green. There is a chance they will never turn gold like the rest of her priestly bretheren’s has. Her lips are full, with a touch of gloss and lipstick. Ardelle’s hair is a vibrant wine red, some people have surmised it might not even be natural, and they might have been right, were it not a staple throughout her family. When her hair was long, she kept in pulled back in a well-kept ponytail for practicality. On fancy occasions, it would be done in fancy hairstyles and adorned with various ornaments, but after the third invasion of the Legion, it has been cut short, and she finds she likes it better that way. Ardelle’s favorite color, red, unsurprisingly makes an appearance in her wardrobe quite a lot. Her holy vestments consist of a red dress with gold-and-black highlights, though her boots are practical, and might be her brother’s work boots that she stole out of his closet. Personality Characterized as stereotypically sweet and motherly, the young matriarch is quick to make friends with nearly everyone she meets. She’s gentle and warm with anyone she meets, and is careful to be polite whenever able. It is rare that she raises her voice to anyone, but if someone pushes her buttons, don’t be surprised if she gets a little pushy! Because of her sweet demeanor and the outsider treatment of her house, Ardelle has been known to accept people who are less than desirable into her fold, such as disgraced knights, Illidari and her own bastard brother. Ardelle is quick to place herself between the people she loves and a threat, like a mother bear protecting her cubs. She is protective not just of her family, but also of her friends. Underneath is mothering exterior, there is the curious spirit of a child. After having children of her own, Ardelle has grown a bit more cautious to the world around her, but it doesn’t stop her pursuit of knowledge. She has dabbled in the more occult subjects, the Void, the nature of Undeath, properties of Saronite, but she has also studied the works of the Red Dragonflight, she adventured through Pandaria and even attempted to study a Draenic construct but alas- she is not an engineer. She is devoted to the Light of Belore, but she does not shrink away from the use of what she calls; ‘Belore’s Eclipsed aspect’, or in layman’s terms, the Void. Her faith is a large part of who she is, but she left the established Silvermoon priesthood in favor of being a healer for the Horde overall. History Birth and Early Years Ardelle was the second child and only daughter born to her mother and father over a century ago. Her father was, admittedly, a bit disappointed, but he knew someday he would be able to marry her to a house of higher standing and elevate the family’s status. Until then, Ardelle would be raised to be the perfect lady. It didn’t work out as Solsten intended. From an early age, Ardelle favored playing with her brothers to learning etiquette lessons and rescuing injured animals, which she would attempt to nurse back to health. Incidentally, this is how her latent gift with the Light would be later revealed to her family. When her gifts were revealed, she was sent to be an acolyte in Sunfury Spire. She learned to hone her powers and channel the Light- as well as spiritually becoming closer to Belore, the Sun. In her late twenties, her father came to her to inform her that he had found her a match. Her brother had already married of his own accord, against their father’s wishes, and their father decided he would marry Ardelle before she got the same idea. At first, she was betrothed to the charming Dariun Bloodmourn- a young mage with a penchant for fire, and lesser, unsavory endeavors such as the pursuit of power and godhood. He was not pleased with the arrangement between himself and Ardelle, and attempted to ‘get rid of her’ several times. Ardelle managed to talk her father into ending the arrangement as House Bloodmourn fell out of favor with the people due to their son’s actions. Instead, Solsten arranged for a marriage between Ardelle and a lesser house- making her the wife of Malukard Sunrunner. Marriage to Malukard Both Ardelle and Malukard came from lesser houses, and found common ground when speaking about their overbearing parents. Together they were allowed to act however they wanted, and Malukard was fond of Ardelle’s penchant for research and discovery. Early into their marriage, Ardelle had their first and only child, a son that they named Sethan. As time stretched along, Ardelle and Malukard only grew happier and happier together, it seemed like nothing could ruin their happiness, not even the arrival of the orcs to their lands and their alliance with the Amani. Ardelle did grow worried when their connections to the Alliance of Lordaeron began to crumble, she feared what would happen if Quel’thalas stood alone against an increasingly hostile Azeroth- but for a time, it seemed as though, at least to her family- that they lived in stasis. The Scourge Invasion of Quel’thalas Ardelle, like many of her brethren, had naively believed that Ban’dinoriel would protect them against the Scourge onslaught as they laid siege to Silvermoon. Her brother-in-law had made it into the city before the Scourge arrived, but he didn’t bring her brother. Keenan had died in the invasion of what was to become The Ghostlands. All the sacrifice thus far, however, would be in vain. With Dar’khan Drathir’s help in pilfering the Mooncrystals from their respective sanctums, Arthas was able to gain access to the elven capital. In the coming slaughter, Ardelle and her husband were separated. However, she, her brother-in-law Terras, and her younger brother Bartheleous were able to escape to Quel’danas, only to face another battle on the isle that hosted the Sunwell. The fight, somehow, improbably spared all of them, though in the coming days Ardelle wished perhaps she did not make it. The only member of her family to be found alive after the Fall of Silvermoon, was her son, Sethan. ' '''Joining the Horde When Ardelle was introduced to the Horde, she found herself nervous. She didn't know how to handle these new allies, though she would soon find herself friends with a forsaken by the name of Erick Marlowe, who, in turn, was captain of the Howling Commandos. Ardelle became fast friends with all of them, and would eventually consider Erick her best friend. The Argent Tournament Pandaria Vol’jin’s Rebellion The Pale of Draenor The Broken Shore During the Battle of the Broken Shore, Ardelle first found herself separated from her younger brother, Bartheleous. Distraught but unwilling to give up, she stayed with her assigned group of people, including her long time friend, Erick Marlowe, to heal them to the best of her ability. However, during the battle, upon seeing her Warchief fall, Ardelle was struct with a fury she'd never felt before. Whatever dark powers she had tampered with on Draenor exploded out of her for the first time. After Lady Sylvanas called for their retreat, she searched for her younger brother, but she could not find him. She feared for the worst- that he had died along with so many others on the Shore. It was the first of two horrible blows that the Broken Shore would deal her, for then she learned Warchief Vol'jin was dying. ''"Ardelle, why are you crying?" The old Forsaken soldier asked, his voice scratchy, aged faster by his state of undeath. "Because." Ardelle muttered, sniffling. "Who will keep the Horde together as Vol'jin did?" The Legion’s Third Invasion Ardelle, after the Broken Shore, mainly served as a healer during Suramar's Civil War. The Suramari people interested her greatly, as there was a chance a branch of her family might have become trapped in the city when it went beneath the bubble, but so far her search has turned up fruitless. At first, she went undercover along with a great many other members of the Horde and Alliance, working in the Waning Crescent district of Suramar. There she helped the Nightborne Resistance begin funnel supplies into the lower half of the city. She would also place up posters whenever the Duskwatch was not looking, encouraging the Nightborne to be steadfast and resist, that the Horde was on their side and that Elisande would fall. When the combined forces of the Sin'dorei, Quel'dorei and Kaldorei along with the Kirin Tor and the Horde and Alliance stormed the gates of the Nighthold for the first time, Ardelle counted herself lucky to be among the people who were able to escape the Time-Lock spell along with Lady Liadrin, Archmage Khadgar and First Arcanist Thalyssra, along with much of the Nightborne Resistance in tow. She helped to plot and ferry supplies to and from the front until the eventual defeat of Grand Magistrix Elisande. When Argus appeared in the sky, well, you could say she was surprised. Many of the people around her believed it might actually be the end times, Sargeras had finally arrived in the sky to herald their destruction. However, after the Broken Shore, the Illidari had returned, and now was their time to shine. Ardelle's former brother-in-law, Terras Felwarden, assured her and the rest of the family that the Illidari would do everything in their power to beat back the Legion, and she trusted him. However, when the vanguard established a foothold on Argus and cleared the way to the beautiful and mysterious purple hills of Mac'aree. She went to Argus to investigate what people were reporting to be a growing Void influence in the area. She was impressed at how it had integrated into the landscape and wildlife of Mac'aree. She was careful, after all, but conducted her own little investigation, free of any Lightforged or other influences on her research. It is here she discovers that the destructive explosion of Void energy that had come from her on the Broken Shore could be controlled, and mastered. Downtime In her downtime, Ardelle, oddly enough, found herself infiltrating a cult forming in Silvermoon. It was in service of no god, but to all things evil. To indulge the Id to a degree that required hurting others. At first, Ardelle assumed they were Void worshippers, but what she found was much, much worse. She met genuinely good people who had been sucked into the cult leader's egotistical nonsense, a San'layn woman named Xauryn, who saw the cult as the only place she could fit in; two orcs, one named Kromvar and the other Auron, both of whom related to an orc warlord who had dragged them into the cult. She also met Wrath. A blood elf death knight that she was smitten with almost immediately, and he was too. It all came to a head when the leader of the cult took things too far, as if it hadn't gone far enough already. Ardelle felt herself dipping into waters she didn't want to be in, and she left. She took everyone she had met thus far with her. She took them back to her home, but they couldn't stay there, not for long. So she bought an inn to support everyone, and give them a place to hang out, when everything wasn't going to hell. However, this little eden Ardelle and her friends had created was shattered- as Wrath revealed himself. He was impressed by Ardelle's explosive power that she earned by accident on Draenor. He named it the Voidrage, and he told her how much he wanted it. He'd urged her to imbibe him with her power before, but now that all was revealed, she took it back. She knew how strong she was now, and Wrath made a grave mistake. He went North, and Ardelle, stupidly, wanted to find out what happened to him. She called a hunter with a particular talent for tracking, naming that she wanted both her son- and her former lover. The hunter found both Wrath, and her son, though neither were in circumstances she wanted them to be in. The former was dead in a cave in Northrend, and the latter had become a Ren'dorei. Rather than be grief-stricken over Wrath, she was happy that Sethan was alive, but saddened by the fact that he had now been placed on the side of the Alliance- and they possibly might never see or meet each other on good terms ever again. Zandalar and the Blood War Work with The Saberguard Relations Family Malukard "Quill" Sunrunner: Ardelle's late husband. A Farstrider in the Quel'thalassian military, he and his wife were close and loving to one and other, despite their arranged marriage. They had three children, all of whom survived the Scourge, however Malukard himself did not. 'Little Lord' Sethan Sunrunner: Ardelle's firstborn- her son. A Quel'dorei turned Ren'dorei, the boy stayed loyal to the Alliance, but that doesn't mean his mother doesn't miss him. Unlike many Sin'dorei families that consider their family member's betrayals almost like death, Ardelle believes her son is merely lost. He wanted to split off and find his own way in the world, and as his mother, she came to accept that. One day she hopes to speak to him again. When Seth was born, he was a sickly child, so much so that Ardelle would pray to Belore at night with him. As he got older, he grew stronger, particularly taking an interest in arms and swordplay. His latent arcane talent would go ignored, and now he merely uses the arcane to enhance whatever attack he might use. Mari'li Blackmoon: Oftentimes called 'Little Shadow' for her interest in the Void like her mother, Mari is the middle child and Ardelle’s only daughter. Mari is talented with the Light, like her mother. After the Scourge, Mari joined Liadrin’s Blood Knights, assisting in bending the Naaru, Mu’ru, to the Sin’dorei’s will. Like her mother, Mari believes in Belore and his Solar Eclipse, but her mother worries that Mari goes too far towards his Eclipse. She warns her daughter that she upsets the balance, but for the moment, Mari’li seems fine with a bit of upheaval. Lannifer "Lanny" Blackmoon: The youngest child and second son, Lanny is an incredibly young Sin’dorei, with his youth coinciding with the Sin’dorei’s inception. Now a young adult, he has been washed with Fel energies for most of his life, and it shows in his seemingly prodigious grasp on manipulating Fel magic, becoming quite the formidable warlock even in his young age. Lord Gloom Eventide/Keenan Blackmoon: Ardelle's oldest brother, a Quel'dorei turned San'layn. The two were close once upon a time, and while she still cares for her brother, she fears she barely knows him anymore. Bartheleous 'Bart' Brightstar: Both Ardelle's younger and illegitimate brother, he was the problem child without being the problem child. While Ardelle was considered to be the problem child, Bart had his fair share of problems as well. The two were kept separate in their youth or at least- their parents tried to keep them separate. They often played together with wooden swords brought to them by their older brother, Keenan. The two have not seen each other very much in recent years. It was believed for a little while that Bart had died on the Broken Shore, but he had been found and nursed back to health by Horde medics. Friendships * Lady Seilune Astrande: A Shal'dorei ambassador that Ardelle had the privilege to meet after the Third Legion Invasion. The two have met a handful of times, but get along well. Ardelle feels only warmth towards Lady Astrande, and hopes to strengthen not only their friendship but also the ties between their houses in the future. * Lady Leyloria Fal'anore: Though the two have only met once, Ardelle found Lady Fal'anore quite agreeable. When she became injured while the two were on an excursion to help The Saberguard, Ardelle quickly stepped up to save her. While she hopes their next meeting will not involve personal injury, she does hope that they will have many adventures to come. * Kromvar Earthbreaker: One of Ardelle's close friends whom she met while she was investigating a cult that had taken root in Silvermoon during the time of the Third Legion Invasion. Kromvar has talent for shamanism and has a penchant for looking out for not only Ardelle but also for her brother-in-law, Terras. He offered a comforting green shoulder to her after her relationship with the death knight, Wrath, fell apart. * Erick Marlowe: A Forsaken Ardelle met when the Sin'dorei first joined the Horde. Ardelle and him became very fast friends, particularly when they traveled to Outland on what Ardelle was hoping to be just a simple pilgrimage. * Lord Zaennicus Silverfrost: As the current apple of her brother-in-law Terras' eye, Ardelle is obviously interested in Lord Silverfrost. Upon meeting him, she understood everything Terras had told her about him was true, an absolute sweetheart. She extended an invitation to Blackmoon Villa to the death knight, hoping to get to know him better in the future. Quotes "We must adapt to survive, otherwise the Sin'dorei will not even be a blip on the Great Beyond's annuls of history." "I adopt anyone that has a pulse- and occasionally ones without." "Can one of you please explain just what the fuck is going on?" - To Erick and his Howling Commandos Trivia * Ardelle's middle name, 'Deidre' ironically means 'broken-hearted, sorrowful', as her history seems to be filled with sorrow. * One of Ardelle's closest friends is a Forsaken by the name of Erick Marlowe. * House Blackmoon is said to have retained their affinity for the night as if they were still Kaldorei, but none of this is confirmed. As far as Ardelle is concerned, these are just rumors. * Ardelle and her brother-in-law Terras were both priests pre-Fall of Silvermoon. * One of Ardelle's oldest pets is a beautiful snowy white pigeon by the name of 'Cher Ami', or 'dear friend' in Thalassian. She has been magically extending the pigeon's life for years, causing her feathers to slowly turn a glossy golden hue as the Light keeps her alive. * Her children's birth order and placement mirror's her own with her brothers. External Links Hello! Here are some ooc notes for you all! You can contact me via messages of course, but if you'd like to DM me, my discord is ItsJustArd#4681. * My Tumblr * My Instagram: @Fanferal * Ask for Btag! Category:Blood Elf Category:Horde Priest Category:Horde Category:Characters Category:Priest Category:Quel'Thalas Peerage